Elastic cushions are employed in a wide variety of devices from seats for children's toys to dock fenders. In the fabrication of children's toys, particularly those having a straddle type seat, it is desirable to have a reasonably inexpensive elastic seat which is adjustable to accommodate various size users. Children's swings employing staddle type seats are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,391,932 and 3,684,282. The seats are adjustable for and aft and may be padded or upholstered to make them more comfortable. The fabrication of the comfortable padded seat is a significant portion of the cost of fabricating children's toy and it was an object of the present invention to develop an inexpensive alternative seat design which could be used by a wide range of different size persons without the necessity for seat adjustment in a straddle type swing.
The elastic cushion which is the object of this invention is useful in countless situations and it is not limited merely to show children's toys. Elastic cushions are useful in dock fenders as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,197,189--Pemper, as used, in truck loading dock and marine situations. The dock fender of Pemper is formed of a elastic-closed tubular section having a flat surface providing one side wall and an oppositely disposed curvilinear-shaped contact surface. Another prior art elastic cushion is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,130,998--Anderson, where an auto bumper formed of a pair of elastic tubes of different diameter located one inside the other along the common vertical line. The tubes are riveted or otherwise mechanically fastened to a support bracket attached to the vehicle along the line of tangency. The enclosed tube elastically deforms when loaded on the side generally opposite that of the point of attachment to the vehicle.